“He’s coming! He couldn’t withstand my provocations, not even for a second! That’s great! Go, Kenji! Stick to the plan and never lose sight of our goal!” Yoichi thought, taking a typical combat pose by carrying his fists forward, ready to defend himself from the incoming attack.

“Screek!” the Nekage growled, beginning to retreat, staying a few feet behind its tamer and following his orders. ​​

Turning on himself and spinning the nunchaku at high speed, Kato jumped toward Yoichi, striking a powerful blow.

Though having no experience in combat and never having tried to use the skill of his demon pet, Yoichi instinctively crossed his arms in front of his face, letting the metallic nunchaku impact them.

*baam* When Kato’s shot hit the target, it unleashed a small conical shockwave behind his opponent, reflecting the dynamics of the weapon’s movement: Yoichi’s arms, strengthened by Kenji’s scales, totally absorbed the energy released by Kato’s fury, but forced Yoichi to retreat a few steps to maintain balance.

“Aaaargh! How dare you! Take this!” the blue-haired warrior ranted again, launching a series of high-speed frontal attacks, constantly hitting the same spot, Yoichi’s wrists, which did not seem to suffer any damage.

“Fuck, his blows are powerful, but… I don’t feel any pain! Kenji’s skill has made my arms indestructible! I just have to pay attention to my legs and wait for the plan to work…” Yoichi reasoned, retreating and moving in the shots’ trajectory, so as to parry them all.

Meanwhile, the suspense among the audience was palpable. Even Kato’s biggest supporters were beginning to fear the worst, having never known anyone who could resist the power of his nunchaku so easily.

Even Enatsu, who until shortly before was explaining to Yoichi the basics of combat and the rules for becoming a tamer, found himself staring incredulously at his friend as he fought against the tamer of a famous guild.

“I can’t believe my eyes… Kato’s not holding back his strength, and yet… Yoichi is parrying every shot, dispersing energy in the form of a shockwave! What about Kenji? Hey, where’s Kenji?!” the young merchant mumbled, looking left and right and failing to locate the little Nekage, having focused only on the physical confrontation between the two fighters.

*baam*boom*

When the nunchaku’s last shot was struck, Kato made a backflip and quickly distanced himself from Yoichi, who had behaved like a kind of boxing bag, merely absorbing each blow without counterattacking.

*anf*anf*

Surprising his supporters, the blue-haired warrior was short of breath and a drop of sweat ran through his forehead while his eyes were fixed on Yoichi, who relaxed his arms along his hips.

“I could try to attack him now that he’s more tired, but it wouldn’t help… with these huge arms, I can’t move as fast as he does, and I’d just end up allowing him to break through my defences… both Kato and his Kuwatako didn’t notice that Kenji is still hidden behind that bush… I just need to be patient and hold on… his demon pet has not yet used its power…” Yoichi pondered, who had studied his opponent’s every move, knowing that he was less skilled than him in close combat.

“What is it? You don’t know what to do, don’t you?” Kato affirmed aloud, continuing to breathe intensely and catching his breath.

Yoichi did not respond, limiting himself to opening his arms outwards to tell his opponent and the audience that he was ready to start again.

“Yeeeah! Nice job, Yoichi! Nice job!”

“Kato, show us what you are really made of! Come on! Don’t hold back your powers!”

Someone from the crowd started yelling again, filling the silence that had been created after the loud noise of the nunchaku against the Nekage’s hard scales.

“He won’t be able to wait much longer, he’s quivering with the desire to start attacking me again and… oh! Here he comes!” Yoichi thought frantically, preparing for a frontal attack again as Kato started running again in his direction.

Still convinced that he could beat his inexperienced opponent with the only use of his weapon, Kato feinted a side swing, causing Yoichi to move his arms that way and then turned on himself, shooting a horizontal blow on the other side, which, due to his physical fatigue, turned out to be much slower and more predictable than his previous attempts.

Without much effort, Yoichi changed the parry’s direction, waving only one arm outwards and striking Kato’s nunchaku with his elbow, making him loosening his grip on the weapon and disarming him.

“Now it’s time! I can counterattack him!” Yoichi reasoned, seeing in front of him an open spot where to strike.

The moment Kato realized that his nunchaku was no longer in his right hand and that Yoichi’s other arm was free, the young farmer-tamer hit his stomach with a violent right hook, causing his opponent to bend over for the pain.

“Aargh! Cough!”

After feeling the blow right in his stomach, Kato spat blood under the general buzz of the incredulous crowd.

Without bothering to have struck first and knowing that Kato had not yet used his Kuwatako’s skill, Yoichi tried to hit him again, but this time with a direct, frontal punch, as if he wanted his opponent to be able to see it in time.

As expected, Kato, before straightening his back, activated his true powers.

“Uh?! Aargh! Leave me!” Yoichi stammered, pretending not to expect that kind of defensive manoeuvre, while his arm stopped a few inches from Kato’s face, unable to move anymore.

The Kuwatako, which had remained several meters away from its tamer, began to float towards him, with two tentacles facing upwards and surrounded by a purple aura, visible despite the strong sunlight.

“Cough! Cough! Well… *spit*” Kato mumbled, slowly straightening his back and spitting more blood, looking up at Yoichi, whose feet began to rise from the ground. “It could have been a quick and painless defeat… instead, you, vapid farmer, made me look ridiculous. Anf, anf… enough playing.”